George Orwell wrote in Politics and the English Language, “The great enemy of clear language is insincerity.” Although Orwell was focusing on politics, some would charge that he could just as well have been talking about the verbal communication of advertisers. That is because advertising language refers to words and images that shadily ‘doublespeak’ in order to try and try and sell you just about anything.
The art of advertising aims at convincing consumers that the product the agency is pushing is really different or somehow better than similar products. Maybe that’s why you like Ariel over Persil for instance. Nowadays, the average consumer will be bombarded by about 245 ad exposures daily with approximately 108 of those coming via the television, 34 via the radio and 112 via print. To put that in perspective that means that each of us sees more ads alone in one year than people of 50 years ago saw in an entire lifetime.
The 400 billion dollar global advertising industry loves a flashy image that dazzles the eyes but misses the brain while using subliminal innuendoes to anything sexual with the added help of cleverly disguised doublespeak words such as ‘help’, ‘new’, ‘like’, ‘virtually’, ‘improved’ and the deadly combination: ‘new and improved’. These ads are meant to psychologically seduce the consumer into feeling that if this or that product is purchased and used, a brand new world will open up to him or her whether its buying that ‘dream home’ or simply ‘getting rid of that awful headache’. In short, the promise is always larger than life.
Using an advertising doublespeak word will clarify that larger than life promise. The most popular ad claims tend to use the word ‘help’. How about a ‘Helps keep you looking younger’ for a night cream? Of course it might but then many things will help keep you looking younger such as a proper diet and maybe even a facelift!
As a former senior copywriter in two multinational agencies, I should know. It’s the same promise toothpaste ads make, when they claim: ‘Helps prevent cavities’. Excuse me, but correct me if I’m wrong, doesn’t brushing your teeth and avoiding sugar also ‘help’ in preventing cavities? The list of key words and their usage in advertising could go on ad infinitum. Yet, it’s not enough simply to dwell on the words, one needs to make a concerted effort to understand the images, because while key words might indicate how a product ‘helps’, or benefits, the image demonstrates the toothpaste, car, PC, whatever, is the ‘miracle’ and your saviour.
It’s fine to have a go at advertising techniques and the sometimes shady tactics used, such as subliminal messages that are messages or images inserted within the main image to target the subconscious mind, but it’s another to condemn it outright. After trying to contact several leading ad agencies, this writer was refused an answer, amid a myriad of excuses, to a very straightforward question: is advertising art or manipulation?
Only Claude Hatem, the managing director and regional creative director of DDB Levant Communication Group, was bold enough to answer truthfully. “To provide an unbiased answer, let’s first define manipulation. Does manipulation imply that we are changing the nature of the product or are we simply using it as a tactic to make the product more appealing? The latter seems to be the most generally assumed feature, so I’ll stick to that. All forms of communication are partly manipulative and art is simply another way to communicate – either directly or manipulatively. So, I can’t really dissociate art from manipulation given that humans are inherently manipulative. Isn’t the case for world justice and defending the poor and humble a form of manipulation in itself that has been used for centuries? This type of exploitation is used as an affirmative portrayal to assure the public of the solemnity of justice when it is in fact a non-existent truth,” Hatem says.
I tend to agree with that logic, leading me to zero in for more. “In advertising, we use emotions, sensuality, beauty or any other sleight of hand to sell a product. This in itself is a form of manipulation; however, we do so without trying to change the nature of the product. So yes, advertising is simultaneously an art and a method for manipulation, or to say it honestly: advertising is the ultimate Art of Manipulation,” Hatem says.
In advertisements’ defence, however, we cannot ignore the fact that we need advertising. As much as we can nag and complain about it, we simply cannot live without advertising. In all honesty, where would we be without having fair knowledge of all those great deals, new brands, hottest spots or travel deals? Nowhere. We need ads like we need air to breathe. It’s that simple.
Let’s look at this way: no matter how carefully ‘engineered’ ads are, they will fail woefully if they do not capture our attention. Of the hundreds of plethora of ads we see each day, or even hour, only a few stick, the rest are screened out. In reality, ads mirror the fears, quirks, trends and aspirations of the society that creates it and in turn, the products sold through it. Simply put, this means advertising is only a reflection of society.
In reality, advertising shapes our perception of the world as surely as technology shapes our efficiency in the modern age. Although there are a few rogue campaigns set loose on society at large, good and responsible ads can serve as a positive influence of change, while generating profits. Yet, they are all manipulative, despite many good intentions. Therefore like any other form of mass communication, advertising has the ability to be a force of ‘good’ or ‘bad’.
This raging debate will continue for generations to come, but there is an important feature to this: people living in a society create advertising and one must remember that society isn’t perfect and most probably never will be.
